2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 109
“We evacuated on [Aug.] 25 and have had to bounce
around two hotels in Baton Rouge before staying in an
Airbnb for the past two nights,” Britt said. “The hotel’s
price gouged us, so we had to stay in three places in three
days.”
Britt said his house has structural damage that needs to
be repaired. Even if he wanted to return home, power and
utilities won’t be restored for at least four to six weeks.
The University canceled classes Aug. 26 and Aug. 27
in anticipation of the storm but resumed operations the
following Friday, a day after Hurricane Laura made landfall.
For some students, the aftermath of Hurricane Laura has
made focusing on school difficult.
Britt said the situation at home prevented him from
attending class that Friday, putting him behind in two of his
classes.
“I simply couldn’t comfortably attend class while dealing
with the mental toll of my hometown being destroyed and
moving belongings to other hotels,” Britt said. “I emailed my
professors and they were understanding, but it just seemed
insensitive on LSU’s part considering the amount of students
that are from that area.”
Tanner Aucoin
Both of Tanner Aucoin’s parents are fire marshals and
were deployed to help clean up the aftermath of Hurricane
Laura in Lake Charles, leaving him in a challenging position.
The sociology junior left the University to return to his home
in Central a day before the storm made landfall to take care
of his younger siblings.
“It’s crazy when your parents put their living wills in your
hands and say ‘this is in case anything happens to us, make
sure you keep hold of this,’” Aucoin said. “[My mother] was
giving me everything; she gave me her jewelry, she told me
who to call, she gave me the passwords for all the accounts
so I could pay the bills, she gave the deed to the house, she
gave me the deeds to all the vehicles, she gave me the life
insurance policies and all that necessary paperwork. For me
that was the biggest way Laura affected me.”
Aucoin said taking care of his younger brothers and
balancing his schoolwork was also exhausting.
His day consisted of waking up at 5 a.m. so his mother
could sleep as long as possible if she wasn’t already awake.
Then, he would wake up his brothers, make sure they were
ready for school and get them on the bus. Then he would
attend all of his virtual classes, complete his assignments
and wait for his brothers to come home.
Aucoin said he and his youngest brother have ADHD, while
the middle brother has dyslexia and needs extra help.
“It was being a college student, parent and middle school
tutor all in a 24-hour day,” Aucoin said.
Madeline Holmes
History and communication studies junior Madeline
Holmes’ family moved in with her after their home in Kinder
lost electricity for weeks following the storm.
“When the hurricane came through my town, it hit us
pretty hard,” Holmes said. “My parents’ house was damaged
and they didn’t have power for a few weeks, so they had to
completely move in with me for about a month. So here I am
in my apartment with my mom, my dad, my sister, my dog.”
Holmes said her family situation made attending class
difficult, especially since all of her classes are online. Half of
her family members are also in weekly Zoom meetings, so it
was difficult to find a place in her apartment to do her school
work.
“It was my mom, my dad and I all sitting around my little
dining room table with headphones in trying to hear our
respective meetings,” Holmes said.
Holmes said she had to drop a class after having a bad
experience with a professor. Her professor emailed the class
informing them they still had a quiz due on Aug. 27, despite
classes being canceled.
“I emailed him and was like, ‘I was under the impression
that this would be pushed back because classes were
canceled,’” Holmes said. “Additionally, I explained my
situation with my family living with me and being displaced
by the hurricane, and he basically just said ‘that sucks, but
you still need to do this quiz.’”
Holmes said she dropped the course that afternoon.
“I didn’t want to because that’s going to set me back next
semester, but I didn’t feel comfortable taking a class with
a professor who clearly didn’t care about his students and
their success,” Holmes said.
Holmes said the University could have handled the
situation better.
“I definitely think they rushed too quickly to come back,”
Holmes said. “It was like a slap in the face for people who
were affected in my area.”
LSU students share their stories
about Hurricane Laura.
Page by: Gabe Henderson
Story by: Josh Archote